Major U.S. stock indices finished a volatile session by extended their losing streak to a fifth straight day amid a shocking move by Swiss central bankers and disappointing earnings reports from two big banks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 100 points, or 0.6% to end the day at 17,321. The S&P 500 closed at 1,993, after falling 18.57 points, or 0.9% and the Nasdaq fell 68 points, or 1.47% to close at 4,571.

So far, the fourth quarter has been a letdown for big banks. Today, Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) disappointed investors with falling earnings that landed short of Wall Street’s diminished expectations amid legal costs and a drop in trading revenue. BofA fell 5.2% to close at $15.20 and Citigroup dropped 3.7% to end at $47.23

Earlier, markets were rattled after Switzerland’s central bank ditched a three-year-old anchor to the euro, which sent the Swiss franc soaring. Exporters of Swiss goods suffered, with U.S.-listed shares of Swatch Group (SWGAY) rising 5.3%.

Elsewhere, electronics retail giant Best Buy (BBY) fell 14% to close at $34.29 after the company issued dim guidance. And biotech stocks felt pressure from valuations-conscious investors.

Oil prices fell Thursday, after an early increase helped fuel a stock-market advance early today. The price of gold, also seen as a safe-haven asset, rose 2.5% to $1264.70 an ounce.

Volatility continued Thursday with the CBOE Volatility Index, which measures expectations for swings in the S&P 500, climbing 5.7% to 22.73, above the 10-year average.

In corporate news: Lennar (LEN) fell 7.7% after it warned of lower margins in the year ahead, weighing on many homebuilding peers. The iShares U.S Home Construction ETF (ITB) dropped 5% and the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) declined 4%.

Target (TGT) gained 1.8% to close at $75.67 on news it will exit its money-losing Canadian operations.

Swiss stocks tanked and the Swiss franc soared against the Euro after central bankers there ditched a three-year old cap against the euro. The so-called “Swiss shocker,” initially sent European and U.S. stocks falling.

But in the U.S., officials said wholesale prices fell 0.3% in December, while another Labor Department report had a larger-than-expected number of Americans filed for jobless benefits last week.

In the U.S., Bank of American (BAC) and Citigroup (C) both fell in premarket action after posting fourth-quarter financial results

In corporate news, Bank of America reported quarterly profit of 25 cents per share, 6 cents below expectations, with revenue falling below consensus as well. The bank’s results were impacted in part by a drop in fixed income trading revenue. The stock fell 2.3%.

Citigroup also posted fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The stock fell 1.5%.

The investment advisory firm BlackRock (BLK) earned an adjusted $4.82 per share for its fourth quarter, above estimates of $4.67, although revenue was slightly below consensus. BlackRock also raised its quarterly dividend by 13% and increased its stock buyback program. The shares rose 2.16%.

Lennar (LEN) rose 2% after the home builder beat EPS estimates on inline revenue. Lennar sold more homes at higher prices, and reported a 22% rise in new orders.

Best Buy (BBY) sank 10% after the electronics retailer had better than expected holiday season sales, but also said it would increase spending in order to promote sales growth.

RadioShack (RSH) plunged 26.8% after the electronics retailer may file for bankruptcy protection as soon as next month, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Target (TGT) jumped almost 6% after the retail giant said it’s exiting its money-losing Canada business. The retailer also said it expects fourth-quarter comparable-store sales to rise 3%, ahead of its original guidance of a 2%.

BP (BP) rose 1.7% after the oil company will cut several hundred jobs in its North Sea operations in response to lower oil prices, according to a BBC report.

Anticipation of the Black Friday deluge is officially upon us with some eager shoppers already camping out at a Best Buy (BBY) in California hoping to score good deals.

At the moment, we aren’t searching for deals and discounts. Yet we’d be remiss if we didn’t write about two Black Friday biggies, Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT), which will report earnings in the coming days, were featured today in a note by Janney’s David Strasser.

Regarding current overall retail themes, Strasser writes:

As cross currents continue to hit the U.S. consumer, promotions continue to increase earlier in the season as companies aggressively go after fewer dollars. Consensus growth forecasts are being challenged, with a low end consumer that is continuing to struggle. Recent data points show credit companies are pulling back on low end consumers and could add another headwind to this holiday season.

Wal-Mart’s defensive characteristics “remain attractive” according to Strasser. He adds:

Business remains tough, but lower gas prices should provide a rare tailwind this holiday. We are modeling third-quarter earnings-per-share of $1.13, slightly ahead of the street at $1.12, driven by a flattish U.S. comp. Traffic remains key and becomes even more important in the back half of the year, as Walmart continues to lap SNAP benefits and anticipates $500 million of incremental healthcare costs this year.

Target, according to Strasser, continues to have room for improvement, and will be one to watch. When it comes to Target’s CEO, Strasser writes:

We believe there are many opportunities for improvement, as Mr. Cornell fully embraces the CEO position. We are modeling third-quarter EPS of 47 cents, a penny below consensus as U.S. traffic continues to struggle, and the Canadian segment remains unprofitable.

Wal-Mart reports Thursday and is down 0.64% in trading this afternoon. Target reports on Nov. 19 and is up 0.02%. Competitors Kohl’s (KSS) and Nordstrom (JWN) also report Thursday with Kohl’s down 0.83% and Nordstrom has dropped 2.40%.

For two years, Stifel analyst David Schick has rated Target (TGT) (or Tar-zhay, as some people like to say) at a Hold .That dates back long before the retailer got hammered last year when hackers breached the company’s security and stole information regarding tens of millions of customers.

Today, Schick has upgraded the stock to a Buy and set a six- to 12-month price target at $76.

Granted, at today’s $65.80, the stock has regained ground since falling to a 52-week low of $54.66 in February.

With sales of more than $71 billion during the fiscal year ended Feb. 1, Target operates stores in the U.S. and Canada, bring its brand of so-called cheap-chic to middle-class shoppers. Target had a rough 2013 as losses in Canada, where Target received a chilly reception, pressured earnings. Constrained consumer spending in the U.S., where Target competes with Wal-Mart (WMT) and Amazon.com (AMZN), hurt too.

The retail giant is slated to report fiscal third-quarter financial results on Wednesday. Ahead of the news, Schick sees better times ahead short term, including improved store traffic in the fourth quarter and topline upside if management initiatives bear fruit.

A buyback could also help boost results.

As Schick writes:

….we do not model any buyback in FY14 just yet, but TGT historically offers next year repurchase guidance in 3Qs (and we still model some buyback in FY15) – we think any share repurchase guidance would be incremental positive to the Street (and capex guidance should improve without spend on Canada rollout). We are now modeling US comp of 2% for 4Q14, 1.5% for FY15 and 1.5% for FY16. We are also modeling $1.5 bn 2015 buyback and $2 bn 2016 buyback.

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, said it earned $3.64 billion, or $1.08 a share, up from 96 cents in the year-ago period.

In August the company forecasted earnings between $1.04 to $1.09. Revenue rose 3.4% to $113.9 billion, below analysts’ expectations, hurt in part by currency fluctuations.

In August, Wal-Mart estimated per-share earnings from continuing operations at $1.04 to $1.09.

The company said Superstorm Sandy caused about $35 million in damages and expenses.

For the full year, Wal-Mart boosted the lower end of its EPS estimate by a nickel, to a range of $4.88 to $4.93. Its forecast for the current quarter, for EPS of $1.53 to $1.58, was below the $1.59 the Street was looking for.

Elsewhere, Target reported earnings of $637 million, or 96 cents a share, up from 82 cents a year earlier. Excluding one-time items EPS rose to 90 cents; in August the company forecasted earnings of 83 cents to 93 cents. Revenue grew 3.2% to $16.93 billion.

For the current quarter, Target said it expects to earn between $1.64 and $1.74 a share, ahead of the $1.51 a share analysts were expecting.

The company is planning to get a jump on Black Friday by opening its doors on Thanksgiving evening, but this plan has been subject to protests from employees and shareholders alike, as well as some consumers.

Retail sales growth in September was down from last month, and well below numbers from a year ago, but some companies were able to eek out strong gains, while others floundered.

Overall, same-store sales for the retailers that report on a monthly basis rose 0.8%, below expectations for 1.6%. But those numbers were skewed by Walgreen’s ugly sales report; taking the drug stores out, sales met expectations for 3.6% growth, as calculated by Thomson Reuters.

Department store Kohl’s (KSS) posted much weaker than expected same-store sales in September, sending shares down 2% in early trading. A same-store-sales drop of 2.7% was more severe than the 0.2% drop analysts had been expecting. Nonetheless, the company maintained its third quarter guidance. On a pre-recorded call, the company said sales slowed in its fashion, fine jewelry and junior’s divisions, among tohers. Junior’s was down by double-digits. Shares fell 0.7%.

Target (TGT) posted 2.1% same-store sales growth, 0.1% below expectations. The company was facing a outgh comparison from last year, when sales rose 5.23%. Similarly, Costco’s (COST) same-store sales rose 6%, slightly better than expectations, against a 12% gain the year before. Shares of both companies rose more than 1%.

Target (TGT) boosted its sales in the second quarter, as consumers took advantage of discounts and the company rolled out fresh grocery offerings. Target posted $1.12 of EPS after excluding costs to expand into Canada and tax items, beating expectations for $1.01 (it’s not entirely clear whether the Canada costs were reflected in analysts’ expectations).

Same-store sales rose 3.1% over a year ago, but gross margin slipped to 32.7% from 33.1% as the company offered various discounts, including giving 5% off to consumers who paid with Target credit and debit cards. Those discounts, and the reliance on grocery sales, have not yet fully shown up in margins, argues UBS analyst Robert Carroll.

Target’s credit card division pulled in less revenue than a year ago, but was more profitable as bad debt expenses fell. “Delinquencies declined modestly from first quarter levels, but the charge-off ratio declined sharply (80 bps to 4.9%), which speaks to improved quality of receivables,” noted RW Baird analyst Peter Benedict.

The company also reported “very lean” inventories, down about 3% per square foot, says Benedict.

On the other hand, both TJX (TJX) and Ross Stores (ROST) both raised their earnings guidance after posting better than expected sales.

In general, retail sales were subdued in April; of the 20 companies that reported, saw sales rise 0.8% below expectations for 1.5% growth, according to Thomson Reuters. But the shortfall can be explained by shifts in the timing of Easter and Mother’s day. A better ay to determine sales strength is to come up with an average based on Mach and April results, Thomson Reuters noted:

“On that basis, retailers posted a 2.5% gain in same-store sales for that two-month period, a sharp drop from the 5.4% growth seen in the same period for last year. Excluding the Drug Stores group from the mix, however, makes the picture somewhat brighter: the forecast growth in the index rises to 4.5%, a drop from the 6.4% growth recorded a year earlier.”

Buckingham Research analyst John Zolidis downgraded his rating on Target (TGT) to Neutral from Buy today on concerns that the company’s prospects aren’t as promising for the rest of 2012.

“February comps grew 7.0% and March followed with a 7.3% increase. Favorable weather, easy comparisons, and the shift of Easter related sales together with the Pfresh roll-out, 5% rewards adoption and an improving economy contributed to the sales gains. Going forward, compares are harder and extraordinary weather may not continue. April will be hurt by the Easter shift.”

Target has also already raised its first quarter earnings guidance, so a strong earnings report may already be reflected in the stock price, Zolidis added. With the stock up 13% year to date, he urged investors to look elsewhere for more upside.

About Stocks To Watch

Earnings reports, corporate strategies and analyst insights are all part of what moves stocks, and they’re all covered by the Stocks to Watch blog. We also look at macro issues, investor sentiments and hidden trends that are affecting the market. Stocks to Watch gives you the full picture of the U.S. stock markets, all day long.

The blog is written by Ben Levisohn, a former stock trader who has covered financial markets for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and BusinessWeek.